China visit lays foundation of new economic order
THE historic visit to China by President Mnangagwa this week was significant in many ways. While Zimbabwe is in a new dispensation following the ascendancy of President Mnangagwa last year, it is important to note that his visit to China opened a new era in relations between the two countries.
The new dispensation in Zimbabwe has brought renewed hope of economic progress and a lot of expectation that the country is finally on the right path to development.
Under the mantra “Zimbabwe is open for business” President Mnangagwa is leaving no stone unturned in a bid to ensure that the country grows its economy. In that economic growth, foreign direct investment is most welcome to help catapult the country to its desired levels.
President Mnangagwa has declared that by 2030 Zimbabwe should be a middle income country, but it is clear that the country cannot go it alone to achieve that.
It is a fact that years of economic sanctions from Western countries have taken a toll on the country’s infrastructure which is necessary for helping achieve the vision of economic progress.
It is in this context that President Mnangagwa’s State visit to China becomes useful. China has a lot of experience and expertise in the establishment of necessary infrastructure to aid economic developmental goals.
If Zimbabwe taps into this expertise, as President Mnangagwa has indicated Government will do, then very soon the country will begin to realise the fruition of its vision.
Of course, China is not the only country with such an expertise, but compared to other countries, the Asian country has shown its willingness to aid Zimbabwe in achieving its endeavours.
Western countries, for example, have in the past been unwilling to help Zimbabwe in its developmental goals, hence the imposition of crippling sanctions.
In recent years, China has embarked on huge infrastructural projects in Zimbabwe.
The upgrading and redoing of the Victoria Falls International Airport at a cost of nearly $150 million was a huge statement on the Chinese’s capacity to help develop Zimbabwe’s infrastructure
Victoria Falls has been enjoying a boon in tourist arrivals since 2016 when the airport was commissioned after the works done by Chinese firm Jiangsu International.
For instance, reports indicate that there was an 18,5 percent increase in hotel occupancy in Victoria Falls in 2017, compared to 2016, with an additional 35 730 rooms sold across 10 hotels, which together have 1 125 rooms available per night.
The commissioning of Kariba South Power Station Extension Project by President Mnangagwa on Thursday last week is another milestone in the economic relations between Zimbabwe and China.
The project was carried out by Chinese firm Sinohydro at a cost of $533 million and added another 300 megawatts to the national grid.
The average daily power demand for Zimbabwe is about 1 600 megawatts, against a backdrop of an average internal generation capacity of 1 200 megawatts.
This means that the commissioning of the Kariba South Power Station will go a long way in reducing the importation bill of the outstanding 600 megawatts.
Apart from these recent infrastructural projects, there are a lot that defines economic relations between China and Zimbabwe in other areas like agriculture and manufacturing.
It is on the background of the new dispensation that President Mnangagwa visited China for his first State visit outside Africa since his inauguration in November last year.
That alone shows the significance of relations between the two countries, and the eagerness of President Mnangagwa and his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping to take the relations to a new level.
From events that took place during President Mnangagwa’s visit to the Asian country, it became clear that a new comprehensive economic cooperation has been established between the two countries.
China is a well-known political ally of Zimbabwe dating back to the days of the liberation struggle. While the strong political ties continued even after independence in 1980, it was clear that cooperation in the economic sphere was lagging.
Now the game has changed and the focus is shifting fast to relations that benefit people from both nations, while maintaining the strong political ties.
It is a fact that in the past, people in China and Zimbabwe were not happy with the slow pace that characterised economic relations between the two countries.
A number of projects have been stalled, much to the chagrin of officials and people who are eager to see benefits being driven out of such projects.
It is in this context that President Mnangagwa’s visit to China can also be partly viewed.
According to reports from Beijing, President Mnangagwa and President Xi managed to review the previous projects and look at the impediments that stalled progress in the past.
The new comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation agreed between the two leaders is expected to usher a new way of doing business.
It is important that President Xi acknowledged that Zimbabweans have started a new journey in building the country since President Mnangagwa came into office last year.
Obviously, thanks to the new dispensation and the meeting between the two leaders, the long-term close relationship between the two countries is facing new opportunities.
President Mnangagwa has declared that it is no longer business as usual in Zimbabwe.
This statement should jolt officials responsible for implementing projects into action.
Wrangles among officials that characterised the implementation of developmental projects in the past should just come to an end and everyone should pull in the same direction.
Such wrangles have delayed the implementation of projects like the construction of the pharmaceutical warehouse, whose deal was signed between Zimbabwe and China more than two years ago.
Sources have indicated that after all the preliminary work, including a feasibility study, were carried out, some officials started shifting goal posts and wanted the project to be implemented on a new site in Bulawayo.
Protracted arguments on the proper site followed, until it was agreed that the warehouse would be built on the original site in Harare. But two years had already passed with the project stalled due to such unnecessary wrangles.
It is important that President Mnangagwa is well aware of such unbecoming behaviour among Government officials that has stalled implementation of important projects.
In his interview with China Global Television Network during his visit in Beijing, President Mnangagwa said projects will now be reviewed constantly to remove impediments to progress.
“There is a lot to talk about (in terms of projects being implemented between Zimbabwe and China), if there is any delay, let us have an opportunity to say let us interrogate our decisions of April, why has this not been done,” he said.
“We review whether or not our implementing agencies are matching our vision.”
In fact, President Mnangagwa said in that interview that they expected that by September this year, projects he discussed with President Xi would have started being implemented.
These include the construction of the new Parliament Building, expansion of Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, construction of Hwange Units 7 and 8 and construction of dams.
President Xi has said China stands ready to jointly lay out a new blueprint of bilateral cooperation for the benefit of the people in both countries.
He said the visit by President Mnangagwa demonstrated high importance he attached to bilateral ties with China.
It is expected that with the new dispensation in Zimbabwe, the relations will now emerge even fresher and stronger.
President Xi also encouraged both sides to dovetail development strategies, enhance cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative and within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), and continue to promote cooperation in infrastructure construction, agriculture, investment and financing.
He said China supports Zimbabwe in exploring a development path in line with its own national conditions.
It important that Zimbabwe takes advantage of such goodwill to learn how China developed itself from poverty in 1978 to become the second largest economy in the world.